Vladimir Putin, left, talks to Francois Hollande, 2nd right, as they walk next to Barack Obama, center, and Queen Elizabeth, after posing for a group photo, June 6, 2014. (Regis Duvignau, pool)

(Newser)
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President Obama spoke with Vladimir Putin on the margins of a lunch for world leaders in France today, the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since the start of the Ukraine crisis. The two leaders held an informal conversation and not a formal, bilateral meeting, the White House said. It lasted about 15 minutes. A Putin spokesman said they exchanged views about the situation in Ukraine and the crisis in the east, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting with pro-Russian insurgents. "Putin and Obama spoke for the need to end violence and fighting as quickly as possible," he said. Obama and Putin were both in France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. (France had gone to great lengths to keep them formally separated, given the new tension.)